Those earlier accomplishments of Muslims in the field of medicine did not occur haphazardly nor without a scientific method. On the contrary, Muslims employed a clear method that led them to this high level of excellence in research and to these outstanding results in science.

This sophisticated method had many properties. Now we will introduce three of the characteristics that led to this evident success.

Opening Up to the Other

The Islamic civilization was completely open to matters of life sciences discovered by other civilizations.  It was not embarrassing that a Muslim scientist would learn from or teach a non-Muslim.  Muslim scientists used to consider life sciences a human heritage and that every nation should benefit from other nations' experiences.  This was not new to Medicine.  It was actually one of the most important sciences that Muslims were interested in gathering information about, developing it and creating new ideas.  This is because medicine is one of the most important human sciences.  Thus many Muslim scientists consider it the most honorable after religious sciences because the human needs it.  It protects the body, mind and soul and therefore keeps the human apt to accomplish his religious and worldly duties.  Thus, we find that medicine was one of the first sciences that Muslims got interested in researching on, and they started translating the works of physicians from previous civilizations.  The first trial was made by Khaled Ibn-Yazeed al-Ummawy (who died on 85 A.H[1]).  He was interested in chemistry and medicine and he went on translating Greek works, especially those in the Library of Alexandria in Egypt.

In the era of the Abbasid Caliphate, the translation movement increased noticeably especially in the era of Harun ar-Rasheed ( May Allah[2] have mercy on his soul) , and his son al Ma'mun.  The Muslim physicians opened up all the medical sciences from various civilizations.  They translated the Greek, Persian, Indian, Roman, and Syriac works in medicine.  They got introduced to a huge number of experiments, especially the old Greek experiments.  It would not be an exaggeration to say that Muslims were the first to introduce the Europeans to the history of their Greek ancestors, because the books of the Greek and Roman physicians were discarded in the churches, monasteries and some palaces and libraries.  Thus, some Greek names that were not known before started to shine in the skies of the world, like Hippocrates , Galen, and others.

Here we must emphasize three points regarding this characteristic (the characteristic of opening up upon the other):

First, the Muslim physicians were honest enough to give credit for the achievement to those who deserve it.  Not a single Muslim physician ever acclaimed a medical discovery that he transmitted from a scientist form another civilization.  On the contrary, the books translated by Muslims were full of the names of the scientists they transmitted the information from; they gave them credit and obvious appreciation.  The famous Muslim physician ar-Razi, the author of al-Hawy which is one of the greatest books in the history of medicine, used to say:

'' ...I have gathered in my book sentences and information about medicine that I collected from the books of  Hippocrtaes, Galen, and Armasos and from the old Greek philosophers who preceded them, and from the innovators in medicine like Paul, Aaron, Honayn Ibn-Ishaq and Yahia Ibn-Massaweh and others."

This honorable scientific honesty was really one of the greatest assets of the Muslim scientists, especially because the contemporaries of the other nations did not know the history of their ancestors.  Had it not been for the honesty of the Muslim scientists, their research would have been stolen.

Second, the Muslim scientists did not stop at the stage of transmission and translation, but they started developing what they translated gradually until they reached the stage of creating and writing.  They criticized and analyzed what they transmitted.  They never hesitated to comment on, add to or delete from the theories of the ancient famous physicians.  Sometimes they completely rejected the content; this is what happened with Ibnun-Nafees (one of the most famous Muslim scientists), who totally refused Galen's theory on the direction of blood flow from the heart.  This objection led Ibnun-Nafees to discovering the minor circulation, which was a huge scientific discovery.

The Muslim physicians were true scholars and had intellectual mentalities and huge energies.  These characteristics enabled them to lead humanity in this important field for numerous centuries.

Third, Muslim physicians never monopolized medicine even during the time of power of their nation.  On the contrary, they opened the door to all the contemporary scientists from other religions to add their efforts and to share their achievements for the sake of developing this important science; the science of medicine.  Thus, many Christian and Jewish influential names appeared in the field of medicine like Qasta Ibn-Luqa al-ba'albaky, Abu-Nasr al-Maseehy, Hebatullah Ibn-Jame' al-Israeli and many others.  This went to the extent that entire Christian families had medicine as their main interest and therefore they excelled in it and acquired a high status in the Islamic dynasty like the Christian family of Bakhtesho' who took medicine as their profession for three centuries. They had a great rank in the Abbasid Caliphate and one of their most famous scientists is Gabriel Ibn-Bakhtesho' who was the private physician of Ja'afar al-Barmaky one of the most prominent men of the Caliphate in the times of Harun ar-Rashid.

To shed light on the tolerance of the Muslim leaders and their immense capacity to accept the other, we can mention that Salah addin al-Ayoubi had eighteen physicians with him when he entered Egypt, amongst whom were eight Muslims, five Jews, four Christians and a Samaritan.

In this way the Islamic civilization gave others as much as it took from them.  This should be the way that Muslims deal with everything in all the worldly sciences.

Employing Experiments and Realistic Applications

The Islamic method depended on experiment, observation and hypotheses.  This means that it was not a mere theoretical philosophical method, rather, it depended mainly on scientific experiments and realistic applications.  This highly distinguishes it from the Greek methods which were mostly theoretical philosophies that can hardly be applied even if they were correct.  Muslim scientists on the other hand used the experimental method.  They tried different methods of treatment and observed the differences between them and registered those observations with high prudence.

The Muslim physicians were very keen on writing down their observations.  They used to record what they observed in different cases and were careful to justify these observations as much as they could, or to try to invent the appropriate treatment for each case.  In this way, an amazing combination occurred between the theoretical and the practical sciences, and humanity benefited from the efforts of old and recent scientists.

Avicenna (Ibn-Sina) , the outstanding Muslim scientist, said, ''I was dedicated to the patients, and thus experimental treatment exposed me to indescribable domains''.  In this domain, ar-Razi entertains us with highly valuable and precious words. He said, ''When the incident that is facing us contradicts the prevailing theory, we have to accept the incident, even if everyone accepted the theory in collaboration with the famous scientists.''  He admitted that everyone might be fascinated with the opinions of the great, famous scientists and stop at their theories, but sometimes the experiment contradicts the dominant theory, and here we should reject the theory—even  if it had been put forth by famous scientists—and instead accept the experiment and the incident, and start analyzing it and benefiting from it.

Based upon this great method, the method of relying on real-life experiments, observation and making assumptions then trying to apply them, Muslim physicians did not accept the old instruments that the old Greek and Persian physicians used. Nevertheless they started thinking of new instruments; they invented many types, tried them and used what proved efficient and developed them further.

In this way they created the scientific basis for many instruments that were used for surgery, obstetrics, treating teeth and broken bones. These instruments were sometimes phenomenal, especially given they were invented so early in human history, and at that time the world had no other producer in this field. The greatest evidence for this is the creation of the outstanding Muslim surgeon Abul-Qasem al-Zahrawi, who fascinated the world for many centuries with the surgical instruments that he invented and used by himself and recorded in his amazing book  Al Tasreef le Man 'Agaz 'an al Ta'leef (A Paradigm for Those Who Fail to Compose).  These genius instruments became the nucleus that was later developed into modern surgical instruments.  Al-Zahrawi was the first to invent the injection instrument (the syringe) and he used to call it al- Zaraqah; nobody can deny the great value such a simple but brilliant instrument has added to ways of treating patients.

Paying Attention to the Religious Regulations Regarding Treatment

This is the third special characteristic that characterized the Islamic method in studying medicine.  All the methods on Earth in different scientific fields promote thinking, creating and applying without any religious regulations or divine evidence on the correctness or the nullity of their actions, but Islamic medicine always referred to Qur'an and Sunnah (the Prophet's tradition) and thus it was completely distinguished from other methods.

This does not mean that the Qur'an and Sunnah mention the details of treating diseases.  We do not treat a disease unless there is evidence.  This means that there are general outlines and special regulations that Islam has put as a guide to Muslim physicians, scientists and the general population towards the truth and welfare in all fields of life.  Therefore, we can understand what Allah (SWT[3]) says, "In no way have We neglected anything whatever in the Book" (TMQ[4],6: 38).   

·        For example, the Muslim physicians used to respect the fundamental religious ruling that was narrated by Abu-Dawud after Abul Darda' (RA[5]) that the Prophet (SAWS) said that Allah has sent down upon us disease and its treatment, and made a cure for each disease, and he advised us to get treated, and prohibited us from getting cured with that which is unlawful.  Thus they never accepted treating a disease with either wine, filth or any other unlawful substance.  This hadith (prophetic tradition) has blocked all doors to harm because Allah (SWT) knows what is best for his servants.

·        Another example of this, is that the Muslim physicians did not follow the charalatanism and witchcraft that was prevalent in their age, but rather used the scientific methods of treatment, and in this way discovered many psychiatric diseases and methods of treating them.

·        Another example is that they did not use external cautery in treatment of medical illnesses, because the Prophet (SAWS) prohibited it.  It was mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhary, that Ibn-Abbas narrated that the Prophet (SAWS) said that he prohibits his nation from cautery.  Thus Muslim physicians refused this kind of remedy which was later proved by modern medicine to be a temporary analgesic with no real benefit.

·        They did not use magic in treatment, although Muslim scientists knew that it was a science with basis, but it is a science that is prohibited in Islam. It is actually one of the grave sins; and according to the hadith that was narrated by Muslim and al-Bukhary after Abu-Hurairah, the Prophet (SAWS) ordered us to avoid the seven obscenities and he mentioned magic as one of them.

The Qur'an and Sunnah guided the Muslim scientists to many remedies that were proven efficient and miraculous by modern medicine.  Some examples of such remedies are honey, nutmeg, cupping and many other types of treatments that were found in the prophetic tradition.

These great distinct characteristics distinguished the Islamic method in studying medicine from other methods and enabled it to put a solid basis to this great science, and thus enabled them to lead the world in science and medicine for centuries.

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